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People in the area of Traditional Authority Mkukula in Dowa have accused their Member of Parliament (MP), Harry Njoka Chimpeni of not consulting them when selecting Constituency Development Fund (CDF) projects.

Area Development Committee (ADC) chair for the area, Rodrick Siliya, alleged recently that people in the area just witness development projects being implemented in their communities without being consulted.

Speaking in an interview with the Malawi News Agency (Mana), Siliya said his committee is even wondering as to where the project materials are bought and the cost involved though CDF is used.

“As a committee, we cannot point the shop where the project materials are bought, we just see the materials coming,” said Siliya.
Siliya described Njoka as an MP who is not transparent with his communities alleging that the MP has a specific hardware shop where he procures all the materials for his self-chosen projects.

He lamented that women wake up early in the morning and walk long distances to fetch water; a problem which he said would have been solved if a borehole was drilled in the area using CDF.

“Our women wake up as early as 4 am just to fetch water, for example, here in the area of GVH Kwindanguwo, there is only one borehole which is used by 700 people and also this borehole is undependable as it breaks now and then and every time, water is a serious problem here,” the ADC chair said.

He said the ADC has for several times been calling the MP to attend its meetings but he only came once and he later started refusing to come.

However, speaking in a telephone interview, Dowa South East parliamentarian, Harry Njoka Chipeni, described the accusation as political aimed at reducing his support by the communities in the area.

Njoka said Councilors and chiefs are the ones who plan for projects to be implemented using CDF money saying the project owners are the communities themselves and not an MP.

He alleged that the ADC chairperson is speaking this after receiving information that Parliament has funded all ADCs in the country saying those funds are with the councils.

The MP challenged the ADC chairperson, saying procedures for procuring project materials using CDF money are very clear and transparent right from the council offices.

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